Improvement in breech-loading fire-arms



i ing part of thisspecication, in which- {Figure- 1 isa longitudinal vertical section of derand ball.

ogni-3W Yoan, N. r. y

. fil-Menoi/EMNT lNfel-EE-cH-UTOADING FIRE-ARMS.

v fu Specieation forming part ofvLcti-ers Patent No. 40,992, dated Dccember22,1363.

y...Be it known-that 1` JOHN GQCHRAN, of -the city, county, and State of -N ew York, have l invented certain newand useful Improvements `,in Breech-Iloading Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the followingisa full, clear,- and exact description of the same, referencev being had tothe'accompanying drawings, fornithe frame, movablebreech-piece, andflock, and

of parts o f thestock and barrel of a fire-arm wlth my improvements, showing the parts in conditionfor iring.` Fig. 2 is asimilar' sec- Jtion of some of-'the parts shown in Fig. 1,rep

resenting them in position'for loading. Fig. 3isa front viewof the piston-attache to the lnipple for-iiring thelxed ammunition. Fig. 4; is a longitudinal central section of the gascheck which is' used to make the gun muzzlef lSimilar letters ofreference indicate corref Spending partsI in the several igures.

^` ThisV invention consistsin certain improved 1 means ofsupportinglthe cartridges before Vtheir` entrance into the barrel in loading at the breech;"also, in 'an improved mode Aof operating the device by-which the withdrawall of the discharged cartridge-'shells from' the/barrel is effected; also, in certain improvedmeans by which provision is aftforded ,for the use inthe lsame fire-arm, either-of fixed ammunition to be fired by a pereussion-cap or other fulminate priming applied to a nipple,vor of lloose pow- To enable otherssliilledjin thefartvto .malile u a'nd use my invention, l'will proceed toV describe its construction `and operation.

, A is the frame having aparallel-sided ver- .tical opening through ity for the 'reception' of lthe movable breech-piece B,which is arranged tov swing on a pin or hinge, a, for the purpose of opening therear end-of the barrel C for the reception of the charge in loading at tlie breech:

The breech-piece B contains within it the several parts of the lock, and has attached `to it thetrigger-guard D, and a second guard, E,

arranged behind therst one for the protection ofthe ring F,'by which thebolt F, Afor securingthe breech-piece inthe frame, is Worked.

' G isan ,apron consisting of. a plate of metal .fitted to slide, in a suitabley guide or guides, provided in theframe below and parallelwith the said end of the barrel, as shown in Fig. 2; andby the act ofclosing the breech-piece the said apron is moved forward again under the rear. portionof; it serves as a resting place ing, and the cartridgessoplaced will be pushed forwardinto their properV placelin the barrel by the breech-piecefitseli in the act of closing the latter. Figure'l represents in red color a cartridge in its place-' cartridge-shells from the barrel, consisting of the barrel', below the back part of the same at its rear end a fork, h, which is turned up at'right vangles to it, and which is made to it a recess, g, provided for its reception in they rear end of the barrel. This device does not4 `di1ifer in itsconstruction and arrangement from, the device used inlother {ire-arms for the same purpose, and it is only in its combination with that my invention c onsists. i. The slide H is combined with 'the' said apron by means of a small latch-lever, I, which worksthrough a slot' in theapron G, to which it is attached by has attached to its front part a spring, f, which presses downward upon the front end of the said lever I, and so causes the latchi of the said lever to enter a-notchor slot, l, in the apron in such manner that-when the said apron' is drawn back by the act of opening the breechpiece the slide is drawn backwith it, and -the discharged cartridgeshellis drawn out of the barrel by the hook h and allowed to drop from the gun.l The slide'H has connected with it a spring, j, which exerts a continual tendtheopening movementof the breech has been barrel, as shown in Fig; 1. XVhen the-said 'apron is drawn back, as lshown in Fig. 2, the

a straight slide, H, fitted to slide parallel with 1 slidegH, Land attach the said slide to the said of the cartridges, the said apron is drawn back I v s0. that a part of it is inade toproject beyond upon whichto place the cartridges for load- H h isthe device for drawing the discharged and between it and the apron G, and having the apron G and the mode, of operating it means of. its fulcrum-pin c. vThe said apron ency to draw it forward, and` alittle before n to leave the slide H free from the apron, which l froht, as shown at 6 6 in Fig. 1, of a size for (sep Fig. 3,) which project forward beyond its completed the front endy of the latch-lever I, which is turned downward and suitably beveled for the purpose, comes in contact with the point of a fixed screw, k, or with any other suitable fixed point, and by passing' over the said point is pressed upward sufiiciently to withdraw the latch i from the notch l, and so continues its backward movement a short distance, while the slideH is drawn forward suddenlyby the spring j and the fork hthereby're turned to its position within the recess g in the rear end of the barrel, where it is out of the 'way of the new cartridge in reloading. Fig. 2 shows the apron as'having been drawn back the whole distance, and the slide H and hook h as having been liberated and' returned by the spring j. XVhcn the breech has been closed, and the apron G thereby returned to its position under the barrel shown in Fig. '1,the latch-lever springs up again into the notch Z in the slide H and so reattaches the said slide to the apron. y a is a piston fitted tothe center of that part of the breech-piece B which constitutes the breech proper-that is to say, the part which comes directly in rear ofthe barrel, as shown in Fig. l. l This piston, which is of smaller diameter than the rear ends of thel shells of the xed ammunition, is furnished with a stem, m, the extremity of which is finished in the form of a nipple, as shown at p in Figs. l and 2, for the reception of percussion-caps, and there is a hole right through the center of piston, stem, and nipple, to constitute a vent. Theibreech is bored right through of a size to allow the stem of the nipple to slide freely back and forth, and counterbored fromA the the piston a to fit easily and to a depth greater than the aggregate thickness of the piston vand of the iianges on the'shells ofthe xed ammunition, and further counterbored, as shown at 7 7 in the same figure, to a size and depth to receive the above-mentioned flanges, leaving the first counterbore 6 of a depth somewhat greater than the thickness of the piston a. It is also counterbored from the rear for the rev ception of a nut, q, which screws onto a screwthread provided on the exterior of the stem, to prevent the piston from droppin g out of the breech when the latter is open. This nut is screwed up to such a point that it leaves the piston free to move backv and forth a short distance-say, about one-sixteenth of an inch. The stem m is made of such a length that the nipple p protrudes asufcient distance through the back of the breech for thc reception of percussion-caps, which, it will be understood, are only to be used' when the gun is loaded with loose powder and ball, or with cartridges which do not contain afulminate-priming. The piston is furnished with horns or projections r r,

face for the purpose of penetrating or indenting the shell of the hired-ammunition cartridge and so exploding it when the hammer strikes upon the bare nipple and drives the pistonv forward.

The gas-check .Mshow in Fig. 4,) which I employ in connection with charges of loose powderA and ball, or with cartridges which contain no fulminate-priming, co'nsistsof a shell.

the 'portion' of the counterbore 6 of the breech,

which the piston n does not iill, the said projection, when the shell J is put into the barrel, being received between and not coming in contact With the vhorns 1 r, the forward projection of which is outside of the circumference ofthe piston.` This projection s,wlien the breech is closed,hrolds back the piston against the back of thecounterbore G'and prevents it from-moving forward.

Inorder that the piston may have a solid bearing, the shell J should have its anget solid and its bottom thicker than that of the fixed-ammunition shell. The bottom of the shell J is perforated centrally to forni a comf munication between the vent of the nipple and piston and the interior of the chamber of the barrel. When this shell J has been inserted in the rear end of the barrel and the breechpiecehas been closed, the piece maybe loaded at the muzzle in the sameway as any muzzleloading fire-arm, and red bythe hammer striking on a percussion-cap placed on the nipple p. The piece may, however, be loaded witha paper or other cartridge which does not contain fulminante-priming by placing the rear end of the cartridge into the shell J and vinserting the cartridge and shell together at the breech, the said shell in this case, as well as when loading at the muzzle, constitutinga perfect 'gas-check, and preventing any leakage at the breech.

The 'bolt F, hereinbefore mentioned, by l which the breech-pieceB is secured within the frame in position to close the rear end of the barrel, consists of a straight bolt fitted to slide in suitable guides within the breech-piece, and having its rear end beveled, as shown in Fig. l, in such manner that it may be pressed forward by coming in contact with the bottom of 4 the frame A in the act of bringing up the breech-piece. The said bolt has applied to it a spring, K, which presses it backward, and which, when the breech-piece is closed, comes opposite to and slips into a hole, u, in the rear part of the frame, and so locks the breechpiece securely until the bolt is drawn forward again by applying the necessary force to its attached ring F', `which protrudesthrough an openingin the bottom of the breech-piece. To make this bolt constitute a safety-bolt to prevent the hammer from being cocked, and

' so preventing t 1e piece fromv being fired when the breech-piece is not properly locked, the bolt Fis not prolonged in aforward direction to such extent that when the bolt is as far back as is necessary to lock the breech-piece cocked.

its front end will only just be clear of a projection, fu, provided on the back of the harnmer L, the upper face of the said projection f being concentric with the hammer-pin fw.

When the breech-piece is properly closed and the bolt in the hole u,the bolt presents no obstaclatothe cooking of the hammer; but in case of the breech-piece not being quite closed and the bolt not having slipped into. the hole u, but resting against the part of the frame be-M low the front end of the bolt, will actas a stop to the hammer 'and prevent it v-froln being What I claim as A my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is f `il. The apron G, applied and operating in combinationwit-h the movable breech-piece, substantially .as and for the purposer` herein specified.

2. So combining the slide H of the cartridge,

thereof, ,substantially as and for the purposeA herein described.

3. The gas-check provided with aprojotion, 3, onits `bottom, arranged to operate in combination-with the piston n and movable nipple p, substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

f J. W. COCHRAN.

Vi tnesses: ,e

HENRY T. BROWN, VvTrios-S. J DOUGLAS. 

